Herrell's Ice Cream Blog Review - Havard Square

When the kiddos came to visit, we took them to Herrell's Ice Cream in Harvard Square for ice cream. This was more out of convenience than anything since we were shopping in the area and had to bribe them to keep pace after a couple hours :)

The kids loved the ice cream though I don't think they'd ever say ice cream is bad! Being fascinated with Twinkies (indefinite shelf life and all) and having a soft spot for cake, I got the Twinkie flavor. It was good enough, cake batter ice cream with bits of Twinkie.



Chomp Meter: The ice cream is good enough and they're open late so it's an option for after dinner dessert in Harvard Square. Like any good broken record, I have to repeat that Finale is over rated (good concept?) and frankly not very good and L.A. Burdicks closes at 10pm.

Harvard Square
15 Dunster Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
(617) 497-2179

Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 10:00 A.M. - Midnight.
Friday and Saturday, 10:00 A.M. - 1:00 A.M.
Cold season: seven days a week, 11:00 AM - Midnight

Boston Challah-Off -> Credit to Josh!

Josh left a comment on my Rosenfeld entry which I found interesting. Anyway thought I'd post it to share with everyone so the info won't get hidden in the comments. Thanks Josh!

Boston's Best Challah Bread Bakeries
All accessible within Newton Center ...


Cheryl Anne's Challah
The bread here is sweeter and more brioche like. You can also purchase this at JP Licks.

Cheryl Ann's of Brookline
1010 W Roxbury Pkwy
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467




Andrew's (Catering by Andrew)
You can get Andrew's Challah at the liquor store on Beacon Street in Newton or at the place itself. They have raisin and whole wheat challah.

Catering by Andrew
402 Harvard Street
Brookline, MA 02446
(617) 731-6585

Rosenfelds
One of the few whole wheat challah producers!

Rosenfeld Bagels
1280 Centre St
Newton, MA 02459

Trattoria Toscana Review - Tuscan in Fenway

Trattoria Toscana is one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Boston. Well Tuscan to be specific. The only downside is that they don't take reservations and the wait can get pretty long. Just go early or on a weekday (like we did last week)!

The interior is cute and cozy as you can see in the photo below (L). We started off with a caprese appetizer (R).



The food here is generally homey and casual but delicious. The pasta isn't drenched in oil and the portions are just the right size. European? For mains, I got the cod fish spaghetti while P got the tripe dish. The spaghetti was so al dente. I loved it. I know it's not hard to make al dente pasta, but few restaurants get it just right. I also liked stealing pieces of tripe. It seems to have been stewed for hours and was melt in your mouth yummy!



They don't have much of a selection for desserts on weekdays so we passed. The only option available on Thursday was tiramisu though I've heard it's good!

Chomp Meter:
Highly recommended in my books. This is a great authentic place for Italian food (not Italian American). The atmosphere is romantic and the prices are cheap too at about $15-$20 a dish. Eat well and date well in this down economy! hehe

Trattoria Toscana
130 Jersey St
Boston, MA 02215
(617) 247-9508

Dinner at Petit Robert Bistro - Fall Menu Review

I read on The Passionate Foodie about Petit Robert Bistro's new fall menu. The foie gras and frog legs really caught my eye so another visit was in order. We usually go to the Fenway location when the Red Sox aren't playing at home.

To start off, we shared the pan seared foie gras with grape appetizer. This dish was decadent, absolutely delicious, and went perfectly with the grapes! (The last time I had foie gras was at Clio which was frankly quite disappointing.)

For mains, I got the frog legs and P got the scallops. Both were good though I think they forgot to add salt to my frog legs. It wasn't a disaster for me however since the other flavors were good and it was easily fixed with some salt. I find that I am little more forgiving when the prices are reasonable and Petite Robert fits the bill ;) Mains run between $15 and $20.

Dessert was the Petite Robert Chocolate Gâteau with the cute Eiffel Tower. We've been here several times and for some reason have never gotten the cake. I had to this time, more for the novelty of a chocolate Eiffel Tower than anything!

Top: Foie Gras (L) Golden Brown Florida Frog’s Legs Provençale (R)
Bottom: U10 Scallops Parisienne in their Shell (L) Chocolate Gâteau Petit Robert (R)




Chomp Meter:
Good food, reasonable prices!

See an older review of Petite Robert Bistro.


Petit Robert Bistro (Fenway)
468 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA02215
617-375-0699

Petit Robert Bistro (South End)
480 Columbus Avenue
Boston MA 02118
617 867 0600

Pastiche Review - Again ...

I'm a broken record but I can't help it. Pastiche Fine Desserts is better than any pastry shop in Boston! You have to visit to believe me. The best time to go is in the afternoons when it isn't so crowded so you can savor your dessert and coffee or tea.

Pastiche is a must visit cafe for me in Providence regardless of the time of day or how full I am. On this visit, we got the plum frangipane tart (daily special), a key lime mousse, and a raspberry chocolate cake. They were all superb but the absolute BEST was the plum frangipane tart with a creme anglais sauce. I don't know how they do it but the plums were cooked yet slightly crisp and not too sour. This went nicely with the almond flavored filling. Wow!

All the fruit based dessert I've had at Pastiche is fabulous. I swear they must taste every berry and make sure it's just ripe before serving.

No fancy photos this time and no prizes for guessing which is which:


My 2006 Pastiche review with more photos is here.

Chomp Meter:
Enough said!

Pastiche Fine Desserts
92 Spruce St
Providence, RI
401-861-5190

Ken's Ramen Review - Super 88 - Allston

Ken's Ramen is an authentic ramen noodle shop, tucked away at the corner of the Super 88 market in Allston. The restaurant is simply decorated with seats at the bar. Just like in Tokyo!

Ken's is great for a satisfying meal of authentic Japanese noodles. I usually get the Miso Ramen while P gets the Soy Sauce Ramen. The broth is what makes Ken's Ramen stand out. It's thick, rich, and full of porky goodness. I wonder how long it takes to make the broth? I also like the added texture of the beansprouts and corn. If you want a lighter broth, the soy sauce ramen is for you.



Chomp Meter:
Boston's best ramen place! It's definitely worth a try or two or three. My only gripe is that the noodles are a little expensive at $7.80 for the miso ramen.

Ken's Noodle House
Allston/Brighton
1 Brighton Ave
Allston, MA 02134
(617) 254-5524
Closed on Wednesdays

Persephone Restaurant Review - Meh ...

The consensus among my group of friends is that the food at Lumiere is excellent but a tad salty. Thus when I told P that Persephone was owned by Lumiere's Michael Leviton, we joked that we'd have to put in a special request to go easy on the salt.

Persephone is located alongside a designer boutique. Since we headed there at night, the boutique looked like it was more decorative than for shopping. The bar was bustling while the restaurant was much quieter when we arrived.



Persephone's menu is centered around local ingredients which is nice. We started off with one of each kind of oyster they had (mostly from Maine and the Cape). No complaints about the oysters, they were very fresh and excellent.

None of the items on the menu were really calling out to me that night. For the dinner sized portions (large), there was blue fish, chicken and steak. We wanted to try the lamb shank but it was an extra large portion (for 2) and we didn't want to both have to eat the same thing.

I ended up getting the evening's special which was a gazpacho and the Maine crab cake. P ordered the steak frites. The gazpacho was nice and light, exactly what I was looking for. The crab cake was interesting because it was wrapped in a very thin pancake. I found it too salty however (ah hah!!). I wish some other vegetable could have be tossed in to accent the taste.

Gazpacho (L) Crab Cake with Chick Peas and Creme Fraiche(R)


P's steak frite is photographed below. Isn't he boring? He gets the steak all the time! The steak and fries were well done and tasted good. Service was friendly and prompt but it seemed to slow down significantly after the restaurant got busy.



Chomp Meter:
Persephone is highly rated so why the lukewarm rating? I found the meal to be unmemorable. Good food but not interesting enough to make me want to go back. Perhaps we went when the menu items weren't as interesting. I looked at the menu online and it shows duck egg (yum) and marrow (double yum) which I didn't see when we were there!

Sadly, the item that stood out the most was actually the truffles they brought us after the meal. I guess I'd give it a second shot if someone else requested to eat there.


Persephone Restaurant
The Achilles Project
South Boston
283 Summer St
Boston, MA 02210
(Fort Point Channel)